Intuit Inc yesterday announced a new insurance service within its Quicken Financial Network (QFN) as part of its effort to become a leading financial information provider on the Web. The firm believes the QFN will become more than just a service users discover through its personal finance kit, and claims 70% of QFN web page visitors do not enter through product links. Three major insurance firms have paid Intuit an undisclosed amount to offer policy information to users of QFN and it expects to announce more firms within 18 months. The offering comes as a result of Intuit’s recent acquisition of Interactive Insurance Services. Intuit admitted it didn’t expect to make much, if any, money from the mostly free service next year, but analyst Morgan Stanley Inc predicts the company’s other products will generate a total revenue gain of 30% over the next two years and push fourth quarter 1996 revenue up 27% to around $92m. Expect to see Intuit expand the breadth and depth of its QFN investment and insurance areas further in the next year. And expect more acquisitions. We have been relatively acquisitive in this area and we will remain so, Intuit said yesterday. Morgan Stanley also noted revenue from Intuit’s Mac and DOS personal finance software is in decline, but rising sharply on Windows. However, on the down side, its Quicken and QuickBooks products are overlapping in the small business arena and the company is expected to face increased competition in the area of automated financial services. On the up side, the analyst expects 1997 will see Intuit benefit from an increased use of online banking and a growing OEM business. International revenue is expected to pick up from its current 5% of business.
